Steche's parents were Albert and Lidy Angermann (Steche). He recieved his abiture in 1856 from the Thomasschule in Leipzig continuing in architecture training at the Baugewerkschule in Dresden. From 1859 and 1861he studied at the Berlin Bauakademie working as an apprentice in the architectural firm of Heinrich Strack and Richard Lucae. In 1863 he went into private practice as an architect for the Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway. The stations of Oertzenhof and Neubrandenburg are his design. Even then his interest in historic preservation was such that he engaged in the rebuilding of the historic village churches of Lübbersdorf and Sadelkow. He returned to Dresden as an architect in 1867. There he designed the Eilenburger train station in Leipzig-Reudnitz, 1874–1876. Steche wrote a dissertation at the University in Leipzig under Hans von Dehn-Rothfelser in 1877 his habilitation in 1878 die Habilitation. Steche was apppointed professor of industrial arts and esthetics at Leipzig (today, Technische Universität Dresden) and director--only the second--of the Königlich Sächsischen Altertumsvereins (Royal Saxon antiquity Association).

Neben seiner erfolgreichen Arbeit als Architekt wurde Steche bekannt als erster Inventarisator der Kunstdenkmäler Sachsens mit seinem 15-bändigen Werk Beschreibende Darstellung der älteren Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Königreichs Sachsen . In addition to his successful work as an architect, was known as the first engraver Inventarisator the monuments in Saxony with his 15-volume work Descriptive representation of older architectural and artistic monuments of the Kingdom of Saxony. Er verbrachte die letzten Jahre seines Lebens in Niederlößnitz , wo er 1893 an Tuberkulose starb. He spent the last years of his life in low Lößnitz , where he died in 1893 of tuberculosis. Sein Grabmal mit dem Bildnisrelief von Heinrich Epler steht auf dem Kirchhof der Friedenskirche in Kötzschenbroda , wo er am 6. His tombstone with a portrait relief of Henry Epler is on the churchyard of the Church of Peace in Kötzschenbroda , where he died on 6th Januar 1893 im Beisein einer illustren Trauergemeinde beigesetzt wurde, obwohl der Kirchhof eigentlich seit dem Umbau 1884 geschlossen war. January 1893 in the presence of an illustrious mourners was buried, although the cemetery had been closed since the conversion 1884th Sein sächsisches Inventarisationswerk wurde von dem Kunsthistoriker Cornelius Gurlitt ab 1894 fortgesetzt. His Saxon Inventarisationswerk was created by the art historian Cornelius Gurlitt continued from 1894th An seinem Wohnhaus in der Winzerstraße 37, von seiner Tochter Lidy nach dem Familienhund „Mops-Haus“ genannt, wurde 2008 zum 115. Called at his home in the wine road 37, about his daughter after the family dog ​​Lidy "pug-house" in 2008 to 115th Todestag eine Erinnerungsplakette angebracht. Death a commemorative plaque attached. Richard Steche war der Bruder des ebenfalls in Kötzschenbroda beerdigten Otto Steche (1834–1908), Mitinhabers der mit Carl Heine 1859 gegründeten Firma Heine & Co. zur Herstellung ätherischer Öle und künstlicher Riechstoffe. [1] Stab Richard's brother was also buried in Kötzschenbroda Stab Otto (1834-1908), co-owner with Carl Heine, a company founded in 1859 Heine & Co. for the production of essential oils and artificial fragrances